TOMORROW/ Demain

 

West Coast Premiere • Documentary • France, 2015

DCP • 2.35 • Dolby 5.1 • Color • 118 min

Directed by: Cyril Dion, Mélanie Laurent

Written by: Cyril Dion

Cinematography: Alexandre Léglise

Film Editing: Sandie Bompar

Original Score: Fredrika Stahl

Produced by: Bruno Lévy

International Sales: Elle Driver

 

This entertaining and eye-opening winner of the 2016 Best Documentary César offers some provocative solutions to the hard challenges facing much of humanity. In 2012, extinction experts Anthony Barnosky and Elizabeth Hadly published a paper warning of a coming planetary “sixth extinction” beginning as soon as two generations from now. When environmental activist Cyril Dion shared the article with actress Mélanie Laurent, they decided to team up for a personal journey across ten countries to see what, if anything, could be done. They sought out those pioneers who challenge the old narratives and buck conventional wisdom in agriculture, energy, the economy, democracy, and education. Laurent and Dion quickly understood that they weren’t making another pessimistic, moralizing eco-doc, but an inspiring futuristic vision, because those who are offering the most effective solutions today are actually reinventing the world of tomorrow. With humor, stunning imagery, and a musical assist from Swedish songstress Fredrika Stahl, Tomorrow is an emphatic declaration of hope.

Co-directors Mélanie Laurent and Cyril Dion insist that this is not their film. It belongs to the thousands of people who crowdfunded the project. Their goal to raise 200,000 euros in two months was met in two days, and they went on to break a documentary fundraising record. Dion began writing the project in 2010, but when he fully absorbed the implications of the Barnosky/Hadly findings, he resigned his position as head of the Mouvement Colibris (Hummingbird Movement), the environmental NGO he co-founded, in order to dedicate himself to what would become his first feature film. This is the third feature outing for Mélanie Laurent, whose previous features focused on female friendship and bonding. Her first film, The Adopted, won the COLCOA First Feature Award in 2012. Her sophomore effort, Breathe (2014) tackled a toxic friendship between two teenage girls. Laurent is better known stateside as an actress starring with some of Hollywood’s biggest names including Brad Pitt (Inglourious Basterds) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Enemy).